


A Pleasant Cup of Coffee

by Spacebrick



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Coffee Shops, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-07
Updated: 2016-04-07
Packaged: 2018-05-31 18:40:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6482590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacebrick/pseuds/Spacebrick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Callie and Marie have a nice, long conversation together at their favorite café.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pleasant Cup of Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this! Doing so much dialogue was fun.  
> Pretty on the safe side, but almost ventures into Callie/Marie territory a few times.

  Friday afternoons were normal. Or, perhaps you could say they were the strangest of all, because there was little to be done that day; in the ever-hectic life of an idol, Fridays gave a sort of solace that seemed all the more sweet because of the week leading up to it. It was really a time for Callie and Marie to do whatever they had wanted: head out and see a movie, take a trip to the mall, get a touch-up at the salon (though Callie would give an act of protest every time - really, Marie, it’s Friday, we’re not trying to look good, you know they take care of us Monday mornings anyway - her cousin knew that she secretly enjoyed the massages, the painting, the gossip with the stylists - did I mention the massages?). But even among such a plethora of options, there was no better way to get their thoughts settled for the upcoming weekend than with a pleasant cup of coffee.

  Sure, sure, there were cafés far more grandiose than the one they usually went to. Ones where your entrance was on a red carpet, there was always a 10-stingered organist on service and your server was a robot - the last part always caught Marie’s attention, but she always heard that the cup of coffee wasn’t about spending money, wasn’t about bathing in service and certainly wasn’t about relishing in the life of a celebrity; that was what the rest of the week was for. In such a quiet café, as Callie always explained, it was easier to get a peace of mind when it was just the two of you, the people running the place - usually there was only 1, maybe 2 servers - and a couple other people. It was nice to have some clear thoughts with all the, erm, stuff that the paparazzi and interviewer and talk-show host and wardrobist and make-up artist and all your fans and, well, everyone ELSE was always putting on your mind! Right, Marie? Marie didn’t really understand what Callie was getting at, for the most part - what was so tiring about living your life with hundreds at your beck and call? She wasn’t too sure.

  But man, the place had some good coffee.

 

  “I’m telling ya, you’ve GOT to try the caramel chocomint whipomatic mocha deluxe here! It’s heavenly!” It was warming up around Inkopolis. In fact, it was after the end of hoodie season by now, but Callie refused to believe that, and instead stubbornly clung to her purple one; as a result, her skin did much the same.

“I’ve told you a hundred times, I’m NOT trying that stuff! It’s got more sugar than the rest of the stuff you eat all week!” Marie was much more weather-oriented on her time. A nice, breathing polo and khakis. 

“Don’t count on that.” Callie flashed a quick grin. Right now, it was an odd juxtaposition between the two of them, but the tables would soon be turned; Marie knew it would only be a week or so until Callie gave in to the heat and wore shorts and a t-shirt everywhere she went without her idol outfit. Then, she would refuse to wear anything but, until she came home one day with her tentacles frozen stiff.

  “Whatever. Besides, who wants to pay 60 cash for a coffee, anyway?”

“Oh, come on. I know you have at least 2000 in your wallet right now, more when we go shopping!”

“That’s not the point-”

“And it’s all in your ‘genuine 12,000 year old leather’ wallet, right? How much did that run ya up, 150,000?” Callie, though by no means conservative, was shocked to hear that price tag, even now repeating it - after all, it just looked the same as a regular wallet, and held money just as well too.

  “You know, you wouldn’t have to keep putting new stickers on your wallet if you had just bothered to shell out a bit more for one with a design on it.” Callie’s cheeks flashed a tinge of red. Her hearts WOULD need to be replaced soon. But hey, she had just put on new stars yesterday, so-

  Whatever thoughts Callie was having were interrupted by the loud ring of the store chime. The both of them had entered without even realizing it. Again.

“Oh, you’re here early today. Aren’t you?” The jellyfish at the counter was a very admirable one. Sure, considering the café was so small, it would be easy to get it booming just by word of mouth - “The two biggest celebrities in Inkopolis come every Friday for their coffee! Try our new Callieccinos and Mariecchiatos!” But apparently, the friendly face up front had no desire for fame; whether it was because he didn’t feel right selling out someone else, could not handle such a high traffic of customers, or perhaps simply had a desire for a more quaint coffee shop. Of course, though the Squid Sisters had discussed the jellyfish more than a few times, his reasons were never too important to them; what mattered most was having a nice and quiet place for coffee.

“Yeah, we didn’t have many shoots today.” Marie’s face shifted into one of dissatisfaction at saying this. 

“Why a long face?” the jellyfish inquired.

“Well, uh… At our Arowana shoot, the photographer found out halfway through he left the lens cap on and we had to do all the photos over again. Can you believe that?”

“Marie, everyone could see you smiling when he said that.”

“He doesn’t have to know that!” Marie chuckled, gesturing at the one behind the counter. She had learned that from Callie. Though Marie never laughed in her childhood, it was hard not to pick up a thing or two spending all your time around your happy-go-lucky cousin.

“ _ You _ looked like you were ready to kill the poor guy,” she added. 

  “Eh, anyways. What should I get for you today?” the Jellyfish asked. It was a question for the both of them, he supposed, though he was predominantly staring at Callie. He was 90% sure he knew what Marie was going to order; every time they were here, it was always-

“Black. Two lumps and no milk,” Marie ordered. He was taken aback.

“You usually only get one lump, Marie! Is something wrong?”

“Well, it’s just…”

“Coffee’s not a comfort drink, you know,” her cousin teased.

“I just wanted to try something different. I’m willing to bet you have 30 of those in whatever abomination you’re about to order.”

“Hey, wait a minute. Tryin’ somethin’ different? You’re not just one of our fans who stole Marie’s shirt, are ya?”

“Ugh.” Marie had a lot of variation, she thought to herself. Just the other day, she tried out a fantasy book, for the sole reason that Callie had recommended it! Given, she hated it. But at least she put forth the effort. On the other hand, Callie! Callie wouldn’t even try out black coffee!

“But wait, you’d need to steal her  _ one-of-a-kind cute tentacles _ too!” Callie laughed as she gave Marie’s head a rub. If there was anything on Marie that needed validation, those would probably be it. Self-conscious didn’t really describe Marie’s relationship with her tentacles, as she wasn’t really depressed about herself for having them - it was more like she was seethingly angry with whatever genetics had decided to give her them, as well as seethingly envious of Callie’s “luck”. Callie learned that the hard way the one time she had poked fun at them. As far as her memory, that was one out of the four times Marie had tried to hurt her - a night on the couch, followed by the most painful jellysting (something akin to what was known as a “snakebite” 12,000 years prior) Callie had ever experienced, followed by some of the most furious footsteps and one of the loudest doorslams she had ever heard.

Right now, though, Marie did not seem to be having it - was it something she said? Callie gave her tentacles a quick kiss to seal the deal.

  The jellyfish was not sure how to feel about this.

Either way, Marie was too immersed in her own thoughts - try something different, she wears the same clothes everyday, I should be telling HER to try something different - to pay any mind to Callie’s gestures, kind or not. Instead, she was keener on slouching away to a table in the back, prepared to sip her drink and give Callie the meanest looks she could muster up.

“And what are you going to be drinking, miss?” 

“I’ll have, uh, whatever I got last time…” 

“Okay! Your drink will be ready quickly!”

“We usually say ‘shortly’.” Callie warmly smiled at the jellyfish, who was glad to see such a kind face. He was not glad, however, to be making another vanillicocoa double cream fudge latte special.

  Callie quickly turned around and dropped her smile in favor of checking on her oh-so-crabby cousin. Callie sliding into her chair, Marie decided to abandon mean looks and instead averted her gaze.

“Did I do something wrong?” Callie asked, a look of concern spread over her face.

“Don’t call me boring.” Marie tried to pass off as uninterested in whatever apology Callie had to offer, but Callie knew better. Marie always forgave her, and she always forgave Marie.

“I’m sorry. I was just joking around, huh?” She rested her hands on Marie’s, which had been splayed on the table in an attempt to show some sort of contempt.

“Hm… Well…” It was difficult not to return a smile to Callie’s look of apology. Even Marie, who had a sturdy emotional integrity, had to try her hardest to force a face of disdain.

“And, besides,” Callie remarked, a small smile spreading on her face, “I never actually  _ said  _ you were boring.” Now, Marie completely gave up on retaining her cold manner, and both of them smiled at each other, their hands closely clasped in one another’s.

“Callie, you know I can’t hold a grudge against you for more than 2 minutes.”

“I was worried we were about to break the record.” Callie was grinning now, satisfied her cousin wasn’t upset for long. 

  “Hey, are you on edge today, or something? First the… sugar, and you getting so mad…” Once Callie had made sure she had avoided stepping on any toes with that comment, she continued, “You’re not feeling stressed, or anything like that? We can always leave if you don’t want coffee, y’know…”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that,” Marie assured. “Sometimes you just… have those days, right?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I guess so.” Callie was not quite satisfied with that explanation, but remembered the day she herself had “one of those days”. She didn’t say hello to anyone on the way to the grocery store, didn’t apologize to anyone she bumped into, grabbed the last box of Octobombs (with prize inside!) without a second thought, and didn’t even thank the cashier. When he took too long to scan her items, Callie gave no understanding look, but a nasty one. She shivered at the thought.

Sure, it wasn’t quite as severe as Marie’s bad days. But it was all really a matter of perspective, Callie decided.

“But hey…” Callie continued. “Massages are always an option!” 

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, our drinks should be ready by now, right?” Marie reminded her cousin.

 

  It turned out that their drinks were not, in fact, ready. While Marie’s had been prepared for quite a while, Callie’s was no simple drink, and was apparently still being “creamed” and “fudged” and the like, as the jellyfish explained. So, he handed Marie her drink, and she went off to her seat while Callie waited.

After a bit of thumb-twiddling, Callie returned to her seat, latte special in hand. Marie, as always, Callie observed, had not touched her drink yet.

“How come you never even look at your coffee until I’ve sat down, Marie?” Marie blushed a little at the question, but she supposed the answer was obvious. Even so, even though she knew Callie was going to make some sort of knowing response to her own question, she lied.

“I’m waiting for it to cool.”

“Which happens, as soon as I take my seat?” Callie smiled. Marie, admittedly, could have come up with a better lie; she grasped around for a response, and came up empty. “Besides, I know you don’t care how hot it is at home; I’m surprised you haven’t scalded yourself yet.” As Callie continued, Marie elected to simply cross her arms. 

  No matter how obvious the truth was, Callie would never want to be presumptuous. 

“It’s because you’re waiting for me, right?” Marie nodded, and Callie continued. “No shame in that. But, you know, if you wanted to drink with me, we can always just wait at the counter together.” Marie’s cheeks were a confused mess by now. Embarrassed by what Callie had to say, embarrassed by  _ being _ embarrassed by what Callie had to say - “No shame in that,” in waiting to have a nice drink with your cousin, isn’t that just natural? -  _ now  _ embarrassed that she was still embarrassed even after the realization that she shouldn’t be, and embarrassed that Callie had a point - she should just be at the counter with her.

So, in this muddle of emotions, Marie did what she did best, and played it off coolly, relinquishing the rest of the truth in a more facetious manner.

“Well, that would involve, you know,  _ standing _ .” After a lot of, shall we say, getting words around, Marie had noticed that if you said things like this jocularly, people would take less offense to them. She was on the mark, and Callie gave a little giggle. Still, Marie made a little note to herself: Wouldn’t it be nice to wait for Callie’s coffee with her? She promised herself she would next time.

  And yet, now marked a crucial moment in today’s outing: It was finally time to sit back, relax and talk about themselves for a while. The Squid Sisters had wildly different opinions of this moment. Callie eagerly awaited the chance to talk to her cousin. She simply relished in conversation, and the opportunity to have nothing but (plus some delicious coffee) was one of the greatest pleasures to be had, in her opinion; this was doubly so with a cousin like hers. In public, and, in fact, to most of the people in her life, Marie was a sort of distant and perhaps even bitter person, seemingly selfish behind her cold eyes. But around Callie and their grandpa, she opened up into the humorous and amicable squid Callie knew and loved.  Callie thought Marie could do to smile more; but that made Marie’s ever elusive ones all the sweeter, in the same manner as a shooting star. No matter how slight of a grin it was, Callie became her proudest when she could make one appear on Marie’s face. 

  Marie, meanwhile, eagerly awaited to listen to whatever her cousin had to say, and drink her coffee. It was a hypnotizing thing, talking to Callie; the way she smiled, the way she said everything with a certain conviction. Although Marie would rather be caught dead than have anyone hear Marie describe her as “cute”, Callie’s tendency to bounce around made her quite a captivating individual, and Marie was more than content to watch. However, it usually took two people to make a conversation; though, it wasn’t exactly rare for Callie to get caught up in her own train of thought, and, by extension, speaking. She’d speak for minutes at a time, and though Marie was quite capable of interrupting Callie - she was sure she’d listen - Marie instead chose to relish in hearing her cousin speak. After all, Callie was even more mesmerizing when she spoke excitedly - to speak with such passion was a far cry from any tone Marie had ever used, and so it plenty fascinated her to listen to it. Marie thought that Callie could get more of a grip on the world.  _ Perhaps  _ it was of noble character to make the best out of any bad situation. Yet, Marie never had that sort of thought process when it was Callie who was suggesting that they offer the Octolings a new hat Callie had just picked out as a  _ gesture of friendship _ , or insisting that money was really nothing compared to love; that was when Marie came up 200 cash short for a new designer jacket. As the two of them were walking home side-by-side - it had been a cold day - Callie had thrown her arms around Marie.

“Who said you needed money for a jacket, Marie?” Callie had been beaming. “You’ve got all the love you need for one right here!”

Marie smiled at this memory, remembered Callie’s embrace and the warm puffs of breath on the back of her neck, and thought to herself that maybe optimism wasn’t so bad after all.

  “Ah, so… what do you think of your extra-sugar coffee?” Callie began. Marie shrugged.

“It’s alright… I don’t think it’s bitter enough. Kind of regret it.” Marie meant that her coffee was slightly less perfect than it ought to be. At hearing the word “bitter”, Callie’s face quickly contorted into a pucker. “You do that every time I say that word, Callie.”

“Oh, it’s just that it reminds me of that time I accidentally tasted your coffee…”

“Hey, I remember that. The first time we came here and the guy mixed our cups up, right?”

“Ugh, yeah. I don’t think I could’ve taken a second drink of that!” Callie’s tongue quickly stuck out as she grimaced.

“That was the second drink you took, you know.” Marie looked up from her coffee. “I remember when we were kids, one time we both begged Gramps to give us a drink of his coffee… We already wanted to be grown-ups. When you took a sip, it was the funniest thing. Your face scrunched up like you just ate a lemon, and you ran to the sink and tried to scrub it off.”

Callie giggled. That sounded like her. “Oh, there’s no way you remember that far back!”

“Well, Gramps had a shot ready on his camera, but he was never expecting that. It’s still in the scrapbook. Besides, you can’t even remember what cereal I ask you to pick up from the grocery store.”

“That scrapbook has enough pictures as it is… did he really have to add one of my ugliest photos?” It was true; Callie recalled that the last time she had read their photo album, it was nearly exploding with pictures. It seemed Cuttlefish had taken a picture to capture every moment of their lives. Them with their formula, them trying to get over the play gate, them brushing their teeth for the first time… If there really was a first time for everything, Cap’n Cuttlefish could have given expert testimony to that effect.

“You know, considering the number of machines that old geezer can’t use, it figures it’s the camera he can.” Marie couldn’t remember the last time Cuttlefish was able to use any sort of technology that was less than 40 years old without a crippling reliance on his granddaughters to basically use it for him.

“He might be old, but he’s not a geezer, Marie.” Callie used a tone that was both parts defensive and simply telling the truth. The both of them had been worried for quite a while that their beloved grandpa was not entirely there anymore, but their recent expedition into the underground reassured them he was still capable. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s affectionate though, like when I call you a doofus.”

“Well, I can be sort of a doofus sometimes...” Callie smiled.

“Don’t say that, doofus.” Marie reached over and flicked her cousin’s arm. Though she could be mean, the last thing Marie wanted was for her cousin to start taking her seriously.

“Ehehe, alright… Hey, getting back on topic, how was Gramps’s coffee, anyway? You’d probably try to block out the memory less than I did.”

“Well, yeah, I can remember it quite distinctly. Erm, for a reason. It was… more bitter than I like.” Callie gasped.

“You mean to tell me it was that bad?! It made you, Miss “one-lump-no-milk” Marie, cringe, but you still gotta make fun of me?” Callie playfully poked her cousin, but was glad she had repressed that memory. The thought of coffee so bitter that not even Marie would drink it… That sounded akin to torture for her.

“Well, was it at least better than his cooking?” If there was one thing Callie could make fun of her grandpa for, it was that.

“As if it’s possible not to be. But I mean, you hardly ate the stuff, anyway.”

“Hey, that’s not true!”

“You said ‘cooking’, not ‘baking’, Callie.” Cap’n Cuttlefish was no chef, but he was a mean baker. “I think your diet consisted even more of sugar then than it does now. You ate more candy than food.” 

Callie retorted with a few simple words:

“Marie, you still won’t eat vegetables.”

That made Marie go silent at a moment’s notice, so Callie picked up the conversation again.

“At least you got to save up your money for toys as a kid. Do you know how much money it takes to feed a sugarvore like me?” Callie pointed towards herself. It was true; on a diet of nearly all candy, it was hard not to appropriately spend all your money on it.

“Well, I mean, you didn’t always  _ have  _ to have a pocket full of penny candy.”

“They were emergency reserves!”

“I dunno, our outfits had preeetty big pockets.” Marie also remembered that Callie’s said pockets were always filled to the brim.

“Okay, really they were just for on-the-go snacking.”

“Well, it was no wonder Gramps didn’t like it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember? He always chewed you out for all that candy you were eating. Rotting your teeth, cavities, standard stuff like that.” Perhaps Marie’s words were not gentle enough to reflect the truth. Really, Cap’n Cuttlefish didn’t yell at Callie and Marie - for the most part - and it was more like Cuttlefish having a slightly stern tone while warning his grandkids. But it did seem like it was an entirely different world, for them; when Cuttlefish wasn’t speaking in his usual whimsical tone, it was just as good of an indication either Callie or Marie had done something wrong.

“Oh, that. You know, he didn’t really mean it, much. I think it’s just because he felt the need to tell me to stop eating so much candy, because that’s what parents are supposed to do. When he thought he yelled at me a little harshly, he even slipped me a lollipop after he tucked me in!”

“That’s a strange kind of pacifier, but whatever works, I guess.” Marie smirked.

“And if he really cared that much about my teeth… He wouldn’t have packed me snack cakes every day for school. Not that I minded!”

“You’re so lucky you’re hyperactive enough to counteract your sugar cravings, you know. I don’t think Gramps had the money to afford a forklift.”

“Hey!”

“Come on, I was being hypothetical.”

  “Well, anyways, at least I haven’t changed a bit since then.” Callie closed her eyes and put her arms behind her head. “You know, speaking of cooking, when are you doing that again?” 

“You mean, when are  _ we  _ doing that again?”

Callie’s arms were immediately back on the table, and her face suddenly turned to one of guilt. “Well, erm… It’s basically you. You might be teaching me, but I don’t really help a whole lot…”

“Because you can’t really help much, Callie. You have to know what to do before you can do it, and I’m  _ definitely  _ not trusting you to bake a cake before you can crack an egg. So, you’ll just have to wait.”

“But I really want to try cooking as good-”

“As well,” Marie corrected.

“As  _ well  _ as you do!”

“It takes  _ time _ , Callie. I only got as skilled as I am now from an entire childhood of learning. Not a few months of getting tutored by a little cousin.”

“Why’d you cook so much as a kid, anyway?”

“I think you know the answer to that question.”

“You didn’t want to eat whatever Gramps was making?”

“Bingo.”

“Ah… I see! If I could have cooked back then, I think I would have just baked a bunch of sweets.”

“That’s probably still true today. I noticed you were paying attention when I showed you how to make banana bread.”

“I’m always paying attention!”

“Erm,  _ extra  _ attention.” Marie kept her words safe at that, because she wasn’t exactly sure what words would be exactly correct. “Lack of attention” was a poor word, because Callie did pay attention, whenever she was. She just had a tendency to  _ stop _ . A tendency to come off focus, but one that Marie was able to instantly correct every time with just a small shout of Callie’s name. And, “lack” gave a heavy negative connotation - one that wasn’t entirely fair to place. Marie knew that though Callie wasn’t “up to speed” with what Marie was saying, it wasn’t any sort of malice on her part; Marie could tell, true to her words, that Callie  _ wanted  _ to learn to cook. Any sort of carelessness was simply Callie being… well, Callie. And so, Marie decided, no matter how long it took, that Callie would  _ learn _ .

“You’re right, though,” Callie admitted. “I really do like the idea of baking sweet stuff. Maybe I should ask… uh, Gramps to teach me for that? He... knows a lot about that.” 

“Uh, errrr, no, I can teach you to bake just as well, Callie.”

“Oh, uh huh… yeah.” Callie, upon saying the words “sweet stuff”, instantly lost all attention to the topic at hand.

“I don’t mind, Callie. Really. Not at all.” Marie suddenly looked flustered at the idea of Callie no longer getting lessons from her cousin.

  “I see…” Callie was happy either way. Baking, yes, that would be nice. No more ordering whatever they have at the cake store, or restricting herself to the blueberry and chocolate chip scones they had at the café. No, she could bake anything she wanted! 

“But really, though, Callie…” Triple chocolate chip brownies… Incredible, exotic silk pies that could only be made, and not bought, except for on their world tours…  

“Callie?” Marble cakes with chocolate chips and candies, with sprinkles on the top and cookies and a bit of ice cream (realistically, a little too much) on each slice, all topped with a strawberry… Callie let herself be lost in the thought, submitting herself to the idea of creating more delicious confectionaries than she had ever had the chance to taste herself, her mind wandering from what was easily possible to that of the most mouth-watering foodstuffs she could conjure up.

“Callie!” Marie slammed her hands on the table.

“A-huh?” Callie shook her head as she snapped back to reality and even wiped away a little drool from her lips.

“I need a scone. Or a couple!” A sugar-craving Callie got up from her seat and vigorously headed towards the counter.

“Oh, do you really?” Marie shouted at her cousin. “I’d assume all the sugar you’ve already eaten would stockpile to last a few winters…”

“Hey, brain power needs energy too!” Callie whispered something to the jellyfish at the counter. He was happy to help.

 

  “I’m back!” A bag in hand, Callie dumped it out to reveal its contents.

“You bought four scones?” To Marie, such an amount seemed a little excessive.

“Yep!” Callie did not share that thought. However, that was irrelevant this time.

“Are you sure you’re going to eat all that?”

“Eat all what?” Callie touched her finger to her chin and smiled in a sort of mischievous way.

“Don’t act dumb with me, Callie. The scones.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“The four of them on the table!”

“But, Marie…” Callie’s grin grew wider. “There are only three on the table!” And now, Marie suddenly found that Callie’s hand had come and gone onto hers, and left in its place a scone. Then, Marie sighed.

“Look, I appreciate the gesture,” Marie said in a tone that was a confusing mix of half-genuine, half-sarcastic; a good summary of her cousin, Callie thought. “But you know I don’t care much for pastries.”

“I got it just for you, though!”

“Well, it’s not like you won’t be able to eat them, anyway.”

“I really want you to have it!”

“And I really want you to keep it.”

“C’mon, how are you going to teach me to bake if you won’t even eat the stuff?” Callie whimpered. Marie… supposed she had a point.

  And now, Callie was giving her the puppy eyes. The eyes that could cool the hottest heads, melt the iciest hearts, and, most importantly, get her anything she wanted. And yet, here she was, not using them to beg to receive something, but to give. This was one of the many things Marie did not understand about her cousin.

Regardless, these two factors were too much for Marie to simply deny.

“Fine.” Marie grabbed the scone and took a bite as Callie silently celebrated her victory. Well, not so silently. “Pretty good,” Marie judged, by which she meant they were delicious. “What kind is this?”

“Blueberry! They’re healthier that way.” Callie gave a wide smile, and, once again, Marie appreciated the gesture. “I got myself chocolate chip. But, you know…” Marie felt something in her hand. “I only got two chocolate chip ones.”

“Oh, for the love of…”

“That’s right, Callie’s master plan comes together! You thought I only got you one!”

“Yes, I certainly did…”

“But now, you’ll realize that two really isn’t a lot more than one! And you’ll eat it, too!” Callie daintily clasped her hands together on the table in a way that she could usually seal the deal with, and gave a dainty smile to match. “Right?” 

  True to Callie’s words, Marie was much easier to convince the second time around. Marie, in an admittance of twice defeat, sighed once again.

“‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ That’s what they used to say.” And so, she accepted the other pastry as well.

“Hooray!” Callie cheered and grinned with such intensity that anyone would think she had done more than simply convince her cousin to eat a scone. 

  Marie thought that if Callie could convince her of all people to do something out of her comfort zone so easily, she could convince anyone of anything. Yet, she instead chose to use her powers of cuteness as another way to make others happy.

_ How strange _ , she thought.

 

“What were you thinking about, earlier? Before you went into a scone-crazed daze.” Marie shook her head as she chewed away at a scone. “Scratch that. Food.”

“How’d you know?” Callie scratched the back of her head. “Then again, it’s not something you would need Sherlock to figure out!”

“Who?” Marie was not quite sure Callie had come out of whatever trance she was in yet.

“Oh, he’s just a guy from one of those human stories!” Marie involuntarily let out a groan. “What?”

“All of those are so drab. All the fiction plays out the same, you know. It’s kiddy stuff.”

“I don’t think you’ve been reading the right books, is all! Or maybe… you just don’t want to give it a chance?” Callie winked. It was certainly not out of place for her sister to declare she didn’t like something before she had even seen it out. Why would she want to dislike something? What could drive a person to purposely not want to enjoy something, and not want to potentially find a new love of theirs? This was one of the things Callie did not understand about her cousin. “C’mon, ‘“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” That’s what they used to say,’” Callie mocked at her cousin.

“Idioms like that are  _ supposed  _ to be universal, so they still apply, human or not. Unlike Boulder Chase Sequence Number 4,738. What meaning is that supposed to have?” Marie sounded about as tired as ever. At times, Callie would talk about what was happening in her human books for hours on end, something Marie could not even pretend to feign interest in. But now that the idioms had been brought in, only now were they having a conversation on the nitty gritty of it.

“That human adventures were awesome, duh!”

“They’re not true, you know…”

“Well, yeah, but I think the fact that they even thought of that all is cool! Y’know, human books can give us a really good look into what human lives were like, just from the way they wrote-”

“I’d never expect something so analytical to be coming from your mouth, Callie,” Marie taunted her. Callie chose to ignore the comment.

“From the way they wrote, and what they wrote about!”

“You can very much learn how hackneyed they all were from that.” Callie was not quite sure what ‘hackneyed’ meant, but she guessed it wasn’t anything positive.

“Oh, be quiet. I mean, you don’t mind playing their video games either, right?”

“Uh, you do have a fair point there. But it’s the gameplay, and not the story.”

“I’ve caught you crying at the end of the JRPGs at least three times,” Callie teased her sister. Marie, uncharacteristically, did not have an immediate response.

“...I guess you’re right about that.” Marie gave a little chuckle, which, of course, made Callie reply in turn with a giggle.

 

  Callie rested her head on her hand and stared off into space. “But, you know, I really do owe you for being willing to teach me all that cooking.”

“Oh, no you don’t. I wouldn’t be helping you if I didn’t want to.” Otherwise, she gladly would have let Cuttlefish take the reigns.

“Still, I wanna help you learn something too!” Callie was quite enthusiastic about this idea, and it wasn’t just for the reasons Marie had. Yes, the most obvious part of having a wonderful time with her cousin was there, and important at that; however, there was another part. The idea of giving someone knowledge they didn’t have before - that was what Callie was hoping for, too.

“Ah, well, if you insist… Let me think.” There were quite a few things that Callie could do that Marie couldn’t, but she wasn’t sure how many of these things came even close to appealing to her.

Tennis? Not really. The idea of simply hitting a ball back and forth for hours on end was mind-numbing.

Weightlifting? Definitely not. There was a reason she stuck to using a charger, after all.

Guitar? And callus her poor fingers, like Callie’s had been? Ugh, no way. Besides, she hardly liked music like Callie did. But that reminded her of something else. At last, Marie had an idea.

  “How about you teach me piano, Callie?”

“Rrreally? You want me to teach you how to play the piano?” Callie needed to make sure she had heard Marie right.

“Yeah.”

“O, oh! Yeah, I’d be more than glad!” Callie gave a smile. That was the last thing she expected Marie to say, but she was ecstatic for it. Her piano skills were the ones she got to utilize the least - there were obvious merits to having a great deal of carrying strength; she used the guitar at some of their performances, and never failed to blush when the roars and whistles of the crowd were directed at it; and at least when she was playing tennis, she could give her opponent a good game (she never liked doubles). “That would be great… I only ever get to play piano for myself.”

“That’s not true. I hear your music in the house all time time, Callie. It’s really great.” Marie gave a small smile of assurance, whose effect was magnified tenfold for Callie, and she blushed madly.

“Ah… That’s really nice of you to say that.”

“I can be nice sometimes too, huh.” Marie’s face, too, gave way to a light shade of pink. In truth, though she cared not to share it, Marie had seen Callie’s performance, and not just heard it. Callie never noticed Marie, and would always continue on in her blitheful performance, her eyes closed and a smile gracing her face. She was transformed by the moonlight, turning the hothead into a delicate beauty by the window, with the fingerwork to match. As their faces grew warmer by the second, Marie thought about the prospect of seeing Callie that way up close, “Anyway… I’d love to have you be my teacher.”

“I’m happy to hear that.” Callie was the first to try and break the tension. “So, can you read sheet music?” she flippantly asked.

  “Callie-” Marie responded in a slow, serene manner, as if she hadn’t yet noticed the change in topic. Then, after a moment’s silence, she caught on. “Callie, of course I can read sheet music! I mean, even when I was a kid I could read the Calamari chorus.”

“I dunno, it’s pretty catchy. I always thought you just sang it by ear!” Callie snickered. “But, yeah, that definitely takes care of an important step. What made you want to play piano?”

“Well, erm…” The truth wasn’t particularly inspiring. “I was talking to my hairstylist, and she told me that she always presumed I was the type to play piano, not you.”

“I guess it is pretty surprising!”

“Surprising that you can sit still long enough to play a piece?”

“Yeah, that, but anyone can sit still if they put their minds to it.” Her smile grew a little wider. “Most times just don’t call for it.”

“I guess. And most people know you for playing guitar, right?”

“Yeah! I don’t mind it though. It’s weird though, because at some of our encores, I sit completely still when I play guitar. You’d think they wouldn’t find it THAT surprising-” Something clicked in Callie’s head. “Hey, wait a minute… Only you, me and Gramps are s’posed know about my piano playing… Does that mean you’ve been telling others?” Marie blushed, and awkwardly tried getting out of the hole she had just dug.

“Well, uh… It’s really good playing, alright? I can’t help but tell others.” However, Callie did not pout; instead, she kept on smiling.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. There’s nothing wrong with other people knowing about stuff you’re good at, right? Spreading the love!” Marie did not understand her cousin at all. If Callie had told others about something that had been, up to that point, completely private, you could bet she would be at least moderately peeved. A raised voice, a door slam, and perhaps even some regrettable words. Forgiveness would not come until later. And yet, Callie wasn’t even phased by such a thing, and she thought that forgiveness was better to be given than received. 

  That was why Callie loved her so much. And, perhaps, Marie thought, why she loved Callie so much.

“So, when do you want to start your lessons?” Callie asked. Marie thought about it for a while, working out her schedule in her head, before she finally realized the obvious: today was Friday. Today was not the day to worry about the paparazzi, the interviewer, the talk-show host, the wardrobist, the make-up artist… Today was for them.

“How about… right now?” Marie and Callie looked into each other’s eyes, and Marie gave a smile that would dominate all her others in terms of size. Or, in Callie’s mind, in terms of sheer cuteness. Callie was glad that Marie had finally started to realize what Fridays were about.

“Sounds like a better time than ever.” She grinned from ear-to-ear. They had been in the café longer than they had been expecting - but that was every Friday. Long after the coffee was gone, they talked and talked and talked. And they were both content with that. With that, Marie realized that deep down, she came not for the coffee, but to have long, nice conversations with the one she was closest to.

  “C’mon, let’s go.” Marie nudged her cousin, and they locked hands. They chatted the whole way home, about what had happened, about what was to come, and it seemed that those hands would never come apart. For, they were not only celebrities. They were also cousins; cousins who meant the entire world to each other.

And there was nothing wrong with that.


End file.
